Big waterfalls

Morphological type designation

A waterfall is a vertical plunge of flowing water over a step or ledge. Everyone can imagine a picture of a waterfall from this definition. On the other hand, on the ground, many different types of waterfall are to be found which often have little in common with the typical waterfall. In order to clarify matters in respect of the different waterfall varieties, some sort of type designation is required. The morphological type designation presented here can be used for individual waterfalls as well as cascades.

Falling or shooting
Water can fall or shoot over a wall of rock. Spouts of shooting water do not really count as waterfalls, since, according to the definition, water must fall.

Free-falling or cascading
Seen from the side, waterfalls can now be divided into two main types: the waterfall which falls freely from the head area to the impact area and the cascading waterfall which consists of a series of steps or ledges with direct transition from impact area to the next drop and with no stretches of flowing water between steps.

Single, multiple, branching or spreading
Freefalling waterfalls and cascades can be subdivided into the following types according to how they appear from the front:
Freefalling waterfalls can be simple, multiple or spreading; cascades can be simple, multiple, branching or spreading.
In the case of the latter subdivision, a specific problem must be highlighted: the forms mentioned are partially dependant on the volume of water flow. Thus a waterfall can consist of three neighbouring waterfalls when there is reduced water flow but become a simple or spreading waterfall when there is plenty of water. The morphological type designation is based on average water flow. However, since most waterfalls only take on one form, this problem is only significant in a few cases.

Waterfall types, examples
simple freefalling eF, Leuenfall (Appenzell Innerrhoden)
multiple freefalling mF, Cascata di Val Mött (Tessin)
spreading freefalling dF, Berschnerfall (St. Gallen)
simple cascade eK, Pissechèvre (Wallis)
multiple cascade mK, Milchbachfälle (Uri)
branching cascade vK, Oberer Engstligenfall (Bern)
spreading cascade dK, Rheinfall (Schaffhausen/Zürich)

Distribution

Waterfall distribution can be studied on the basis of various criteria which are set out in the following sections:

The highest waterfalls in Switzerland
Due to the stepped landscape, accounted for by tectonic plate movement and glacial erosion, the very high waterfalls (over 80 m drop) are to be found in the Helvetic Plates on the northern slopes of the Alps and in the crystalline formations of the Piedmont Plates on the southern edge of the Alps. Here, relative height is greatest and there is a sufficiently large water catchment area. In the Jura and in the midlands there are no high waterfalls.
Furthermore, waterfalls should be differentiated according to whether they are cascades or singles falls, possibly with steps:

Top 3 cascades
1 Mattenbachfall (Lauterbrunnen BE), 840 m
2 Staldenbachfälle (Lauterbrunnen BE), 630 m
3 Seerenbachfälle (Amden SG), 585 m

Top 10 single falls, some with steps
1 Mürrenbachfall (Lauterbrunnen BE), 417 m
2 Seerenbachfall II (Amden SG), 305 m
3 Staubbachfall (Lauterbrunnen BE), 297 m
4 Isengrindfall (Mels SG), 230 m
5 Schmadribachfälle (Lauterbrunnen BE), 200 m
6 Lagginafall II (Simplon VS), 192 m
7 Seerenbachfall III (Amden SG), 190 m
8 Hohbachfall (Mels SG), 189 m
9 Bettbachfall (Muotathal SZ), 177 m
10 Geltenbachfall (Lauenen BE), 176 m

The most powerful waterfalls in Switzerland
The waterfalls with the greatest flow in Switzerland, with an average water volume throughput of over 1 m³/s are to be found in the northern slopes of the Alps thanks to the extensive catchment area and largest amount of precipitation. Other powerful falls outside this area are the Rheinfall and the Saut du Doubs with smaller drops but very wide catchment areas. The Rheinfall is Europe’s biggest waterfall in terms of water flow. There are almost no powerful waterfalls in southern Switzerland.

Tectonic distribution
The best prerequisites for the creation of a waterfall are offered by regions where the rock has a prominent layer structure. Well differentiated hard strata which lie more or less horizontally are predestined for waterfalls.
In Switzerland, these conditions are to be found in the Helvetic Plates which run from the south-western peaks of Wallis through all the northern slopes of the Alps to the St Gallen area of the Rhine valley. They consist exclusively of sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic, Tertiary and Permian ages (less than 290 million years old) and occurred in the flat water area on the northern edge of Tethys (Urozean). They comprise limestone, marl and clay layers which display different characteristics according to their relative erosion rates. In the course of Alpine mountain formation, these sedimentary layers were shifted from south to north. The thrusting and shearing faults arising from these shifts led to the diverse stepped landscape structures that exist today which consist of relatively flat plateaux broken up by steep steps.
So it is also not really surprising that two thirds of all Swiss waterfalls are to be found within the area of the Helvetic Plates.
In contrast to the Helvetic Plates, crystalline rock provides relatively poor conditions for waterfall parapets. Crystalline rocks have homogenous hardness and no prominent layer structure. The erosive effect of flowing water is therefore quite even and the steep breakthrough which creates a waterfall occurs only infrequently.
Waterfalls can occur in the other tectonic parts of Switzerland according to local conditions of geological layering. There are not many of them because the formations either represent a small proportion of the landscape as a whole (volcanic rocks in south Ticino) or occur in regions such as the Molasses in the midlands which have low relative heights.

Regional distribution
The reputation of the Lauterbrunnen valley as “Valley of the Waterfalls” and the canton of Bern as having the largest number of waterfalls in Switzerland are well deserved. Almost half of all the biggest waterfalls in Switzerland are in the canton of Bern. There are two reasons for this: on the one hand, the canton of Bern is the second largest canton in Switzerland in terms of area and, on the other hand, most of the Bernese Alps lie within the Helvetic Plates or are spread over a wide area. There are no large waterfalls in the midland cantons or in those of the Jura (Aargau, Basel, Freiburg, Geneva, Jura, Luzern, Solothurn, Thurgau, Zug).
If the distribution of waterfalls among the cantons is considered not in absolute terms but in terms of the relative areas of the cantons, a different picture emerges. The canton of Glarus, which lies exclusively within the Helvetic Plates area, has by far the most waterfalls, followed by Uri, Bern, St. Gallen and Obwalden. At the other end of the scale are the cantons that lie outside the Helvetic Plates area and/or which have the biggest hydro power installations which interfere with natural waterfalls (Graubünden, Wallis).

Distribution according to altitude
Swiss waterfalls can be found at all altitudes from 400 m above sea level to well over 2000 m above sea level. The lowest falls are to be found in the south, at the foot of the great Alpine valleys or, like the Rheinfall, on the boundary between the midlands and the Jura. Most waterfalls are at altitudes between 1400 and 1800 m above sea level where the Helvetic Plates are most prevalent. Over 2000 m above sea level, the number of waterfalls declines significantly by virtue of the smaller catchment areas at this altitude and water flows which are only active on the warmest days of the year.